Barry, I guess I was misinformed about Civil Unions. I thought they did work to allow the couple to take advantage of tax exemptions and deductions, and did allow for the working member to insure the non-working member (if there was one), and so on.
                I'm not sure about the adoption of children. It certainly wouldn't bother me personally. I would think the child would be better off with decent people than in an institution, by I can see why the religious folks get worked up over that.
                The other element of the whole discussion that keeps coming to mind, and I don't see a lot in print about, is the Civil Rights element of same-sex-marriage. If I own a string of motels, for instance, and I'm a member of one of these religious groups, and I mandate that my places of business cannot rent rooms to same-sex couples, can I be brought up on civil rights charges for that? Or can I stand on my rights as a member of a church?